This webinar is by Dr. Osama Hamdy, the medical director of the obesity clinical program at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. He is also a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and works in the inpatient clinic at Joslin. He also created Joslin’s Why Wait program. This presentation is entitled, “The National Nutrition Fat Experiment: Was it Successful?” and is the second of five presentations by Dr. Hamdy on the clinical management of obese and diabetic patients.
The presentation focuses on the role of fat in the diet. In 1955, President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack and became an advocate for cardiovascular disease awareness. At the time, it was believed that eating a high fat diet was to blame for cardiovascular disease. Subsequently, dietary fat became demonized and people turned to carbohydrates, oftentimes processed carbohydrates, as the main component of their diet. Dietary recommendations increased carbohydrate intake recommendation to 60% of the diet.
There is now extensive evidence showing that the intake of healthy fats can reduce incidence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. Today’s recommendations include keeping intake of saturated fatty acids low, replace saturated fat with unsaturated fats, and consume mono-unsaturated fats and poly-unsaturated fats. Good food options to consume are vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, seafood, avocado, soy, and algae.
